"Are you sure of this?" Keyla asked Butz with some tension.
	"No, but at the rate we're going, it'll be weeks before we get to
Figaro," Butz answered while his upper body found its way into the
Nautilus's maintainance hatch.
	Butz pulled himself out of the panel. "There, it's done." he stated
as he wiped some oil off of his brow.
	Cyan sighed heavily. "When will I stop putting my life in the hands
of others?" he mumbled while helping Butz up. He then turned to Osric.
"Alright, let's -"
	The Nautilus shuddered for an instant. Before anyone could come to
their senses the Nautilus began a rapid descent toward the ocean floor. The
speed of the dive was compounded by sharp erratic turns every so often.
Eventually Cyan made his way to the helm. Grabbing on to whatever appeared
stationary, the king of Doma propped himself up only to see Koro busy with
the task of bad driving.
	"Hey! King Cyan, isn't this fun?" Koro asked.
	As Cyan prepared to chastise the boy his eyes widened at the
approach of a coral reef. He dove for the controls, and steered sharply
towards the left. Unfortunately, he was somewhat late in his heroics.

                               *  -  *  -  *

	Butz got up and tried to shake the little chocobos flying around
his head. As Cyan approached, Butz blinked and asked, "What happened?"
	Cyan's face looked strained as he attempted to find a suitable
reply. "Well, we crashed, and we're deep beneath the ocean. The Nautilus
could use some repairs, and you know, you still have some hydraulic fluid
on your forehead -"
	"Slow down and stop spinning for a second," Butz interrupted. "How
did this happen?"
	Cyan almost reflexively made an excuse for Koro. "Uh, malfunction,
probably a malfunction," Cyan declared, realizing that Butz would probably
teach Koro how to throw sharp pointed objects if he knew that Koro had
nearly sunk the Nautilus.
	As Keyla reached consciousness, she asked, "So where in the ocean
are we?"
	By now Koro had entered and was jumping up and down in excitement.
	"Ooh, ooh, I bet we're in a sea monster lair!"
	"We hit a reef, but for some reason it's hollow, and it leads to an
undersea cove," Cyan corrected.
	Cyan, Keyla, and Butz gathered their gear and set off to
investigate the cove. Though Koro protested being left behind, they were
quite adamant on the point.
	"Heh, well you can't hold back a ninja, especially the legendary
Jade Dragon Ninja!" he thought as he returned to his quarters to plan his
escape.
	The trio walked down the length of the undersea cavern for some
time. Eventually a glimmer of light tempted them to follow the tunnel for
just a little longer. When the finally reached the end...
	"It's beautiful!" Keyla remarked as she scoured the landscape.
Before them stood a forest unlike any seen since the World of Balance.
	Cyan drew Sky Render and scanned slowly. "This is strange... wait,
I see something... looks human... wait... lots of humanlike figures..."
	By now Butz had raced ahead to confront the entourage. As he
approached the head of the group, memories returned to him. "Oberon!" he
shouted out, then he increased his pace further.
	A tall, slender, man turned at the sound of his name. "What is
it, dear?" asked the woman beside him. Oberon paid his wife no attention.
He turned his face, a beautiful human's with only tiny horns to belie his
true nature, to the caller. "Butz? Butz Klauser?"
	Butz slowed down as he neared Oberon. "Hello, old man, it's been a
while," Butz remarked.
	Oberon laughed lightly. "Again you call me an old man. Must you
remind me that my 300th is so near? A man accumulates a wealth of ugly ties
when he lives that long," Oberon remarked.
	By now Keyla and Cyan had caught up. Panting, Keyla asked, "Wha...
who... what's going on here?" she finally finished.
	Butz turned back to his companions. "This is Oberon, the lord of
fairies. We're in the land of summoned monsters!"
	As the entourage headed to the court of the fairies Butz began his
explanation. "We met in my early days as a summoner. I tried to bind
something... anything, and somehow the first guy I call up happens to be
him. Anyway he pretends to be an infernal demon, and tries to scare me out
of it. But being the young, reckless fool that I am, I confront him, by
incanting magical sigils. Well, wouldn't you know it, I screw up, but I
screw up in a way that's funny - well, at least Oberon thought it was
funny; never figured out what I did, and Oberon refuses to tell me.
Anyway, he laughs his head off and his magical disguise drops..."
	As Butz continued his story, Keyla paid watch to Oberon and his
queen Titania. The lord of Fey wore the clothes of a human noble, though
the flamboyantly loud colours gave it an air of tackiness. He laughed often
and seemed to take little seriously. But he took his queen seriously.
Titania was robed in the slightest of cloth which garbed all of the
important areas, and left little to the imagination. She herself was of an
unearthly beauty that entranced all men who gazed upon her... well,
except for her companions, who paid some, but not much, attention to her.
Both had lost their true loves, and apparently weren't going to get over it
anytime soon.
	"I know you, Oberon, you were leering at that girl!" Titania
remarked to her husband.
	"I, dear lady? Nay, you walk with a man falsely accused," he
answered.
	Titania began again. "Hmmph, what does she have that I don't?" she
asked. Oberon smiled. "Nothing that she could possess would even approach
you, my dear Titania. She is but human, my queen. Why should I have even
the slightest hint of dissatisfaction invade my thoughts? To gaze upon thee
in all of my waking hours, is a gift that even the gods would covet, my
Titania. Would I make a comparison, it would be of a drab swallow next to
the exquisite plumage of a peacock..."
	Titania interrputed, "You've made your point, Oberon. I shall be in
the court if you wish to gaze upon me, or something like that," as she left
for the throne room.
	Oberon smiled for an instant. "... for the peacock sits on her fat
rump while sunning herself in her so-called glory, and the swallows sings
its sweet song, flying higher than the peacock could possibly imagine."
Oberon finished.
	Oberon stopped. "Robin Goodfellow!" he called back.
	A short brown sprite approached the king of Fey. "What can I do to
you, er... for you?"
	Oberon cleared his throat. "As you know, humans cannot abide by the
food of fairies. Go and fetch some food from some other esper, ah,
Gilgamesh, yes, tell Gilgamesh that Oberon requests some food palatable to
humans."
	"Of course, sir," responded Puck with a rather wide grin on his
face.

                               *  -  *  -  *

	Everyone was eventually assembled at the fairy's banquet table.
Arrayed before them was a feast for kings. Rare and exotic spices covered
tender meats and poultry. Fresh breads and vegetables lay before them for
consumption. A rack of rare vintages lay behind them to wash down their
throats. "Gilgamesh has been eating well!" Oberon thought. Out loud, he
said, "Please eat as much as you desire!"
	Butz stopped the others. "This is fairy food, you know that it has
strange effects on humans."
	"Do not fear, my paranoid friend; this is human food acquired from
another esper," Oberon replied.
	Butz looked down at the sumptuous dishes. "Alright, let's eat," he
declared, though he touched nothing for himself, having tasted esper food
before. Cyan and Keyla ate heartily. It had been some time since they had
eaten a decent meal, and this one rated somewhere near exceptional.
	Butz poured himself a glass of water and then inquired of Oberon,
"Why do the espers not respond to calls?".
	Oberon, while drinking a glass of rum, thought for a moment. "So
that's why you're here? Alright, it goes like this. Bahamut, the lord of
all, has decreed that none but the highest espers may leave the land of
summoned monsters. Because of the wars, and espers being turned into
weapons. He decided to preserve his people by keeping them from their
favorite activity, visiting the other world. Tunnels and grottos were
sealed off physically. Guardians were placed at the major exits to keep
others out. Anyway, the espers seem to be getting restless, though Bahamut,
Leviathan, and a select few still maintain visitation rights.  Still, most
agree with his decision, and actively aid in its enforcement. Thus magic is
quite close to dead in that particular world. Doughnut?" Oberon offered.
	"No thank you... but does Bahamut know that the world is now being
filled with evils, because there is no magic to fight them off?" Butz asked
again.
	Oberon seemed lost in thought for a second, then said, "He's
Bahamut, of course he knows. But the esper population as it is has
diminished considerably, thus Bahamut's edict stands. No esper may leave."
	Butz sighed. "Then we are at their mercy," he conceded.
	Oberon flashed his characteristic grin. "Perhaps not. There are
those who stand outside of esper hiearchy, like myself. Maybe if you
convinced them. They care little for Bahamut and his covenants."
	Butz thought for a minute. As he prepared to give his answer -
	"Unghh, I don't feel too good," Cyan said.
	Keyla appeared to be in some pain as well. She throttled against
her chair for a moment, then disappeared.
	"Keyla!" Butz shouted as he stood.
	Oberon appeared puzzled, then took a taste of a ham. "This is
fairy's food."
	Cyan approached, looking for Keyla, then all of a sudden everything
around him shrank.
	Butz looked up to see Cyan now ten times larger than before. Butz
shouted, "Cyan! Cyan!... now who the hell is Cyan... come to think of it,
who am I?" he mused.
	Keyla looked up, but the blades of grass above her eclipsed all but
Cyan who was now a hundred times her size. She yelled out, but recieved no
response. Oberon stood and looked around. "PUCK!"
	In a vale nearby, far from the eyes of others, Puck witnessed the
whole affair, while resting comfortably on Gilgamesh's sack of human
food. He laughed as he watched the chaos.
	"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"